Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Modern Families: Booth's Flexible Cohort System

Chicago Booth has a cohort system which matches our
independent and flexible outlook on the MBA experience. We start off with our cohorts during
orientation and our leadership development class in the first few weeks of
school, but our flexible curriculum means that we have the opportunity to take
the classes we want, with any of the other 1,000+ first- and second-years at
Booth.

Jen Tan is a first year MBA student at Booth, and was
elected by her peers as president of the Bond Cohort. Jen is currently the only dual-degree MBA-MSW
in both of her programs. Her earlier career includes unicorn hunting (“recruiting”)
for the Clinton Foundation and rainmaking (“fundraising”) for Facing History
and Ourselves, two non-profits headquartered in her hometown of Boston, Massachusetts.
Jen is transitioning into healthcare as part of her pursuit of social justice.

Here, she shares her unique perspective on what the Booth
cohort experience means to her, but before you get started, she’s just got to
say that Bond is the best cohort at Booth of all time. OF. ALL. TIME.

--Matt Richman (Bond Cohort)

For the first decade of my
life, I grew up in a house that contained 15 people: my two parents, three
brothers, four cousins, and six aunts and uncles. In the years that have
followed, the families have moved apart. But my big family, which has only
gotten bigger and closer, has provided me with a lifetime of experience in
building and maintaining relationships that are as deep and complex as they are
diverse and time-tested.

For me, the Booth cohort
experience creates that same sense of home for its individual members, much in
the way that sharing a house together provides the essential bonding experience
by which most families grow together. Booth students are assigned to cohorts which
operate primarily during the first two months of school. Students begin
orientation together as a cohort by participating in our one required course,
Leadership Effectiveness and Development (LEAD) and spending a weekend out-of-state
competing against other cohorts in the Leadership Orientation Retreat (LOR),
Fall Frolics, and a host of other events offering equal parts delight and
aggressive competition (at least, for Bond cohort). Throughout the remainder of
the MBA program, the Graduate Business Council (GBC) hosts occasional cohort
competitions, trivia nights, or t-shirt days to show cohort spirit.

The Booth cohort experience is
unique among business schools. At other programs, cohorts take all of their
classes together for part or all of the first year, sometimes in the same
assigned seats. At Booth, however, the onus to maintain the cohesion that was
initiated at the beginning of the year is largely up to the cohorts themselves.
Specifically, it is a responsibility of the cohort president to set the tone
for the culture and to help foster the sense of community that each cohort
ultimately has. For all of these reasons, I decided to run for president of my
cohort, a role that I serve with joy and pride.

Much in the way that one’s
family can often feel like a household that has randomly gathered together
people who share very little aside from an address and, perhaps, some facial
features, the Booth cohort provides students with a space to share with people
who are smart, social, and passionate in an infinite combination of ways. But
while your cohort is assigned to you and you to your cohort, ultimately, each
person is given the choice to determine how much meaning that designation can
have. It is an arrangement that provides us with the opportunity to forge deep
relationships with people we might not have met otherwise, while also allowing us
the freedom to hang out with other people if we choose. As one would expect at
Booth, given the similar flexibility provided by the course selection process,
students are trusted to learn to the best of their abilities and respected for
the choices they make in doing so.

Indeed, the opportunities and
challenges that are uniquely presented by the Booth cohort echo the school’s
philosophy toward the community it has created: that people can find a social
environment in which their individualities are respected and appreciated, and that
every person feel encouraged and supported in pursuing whatever it is that
makes her/him happy.

Growing up in a large family
wasn’t without its challenges. As with any large group, you find variety across
interests, personalities, and communication styles. But being able to grow into
our individual selves and forge unique relationships with each other in the
process is the thing I love most about my large family and the lives we now share,
no longer in the same house but now across states and time zones.

The same is true for this
school we love: your Booth cohort is the big family that will always welcome
you with open arms—all you have to do is reach out.

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As current Full-Time Chicago Booth students, we have enjoyed our first year so much, we chose to become involved in the Dean's Student Admissions Committee (DSAC) so that we could share the phenomenal Booth experience with prospective and admitted students. Throughout the year we will write about many of the diverse aspects of the Chicago Booth experience. While we will try to write about as many as possible, if at any time you would like to hear more about any specific topics, please let us know through email.

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